Office on Violence Against Women Announces National Tour to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, the Department of Justice today announced a nationwide tour of Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grant recipients.  The tour will engage with communities dedicated to ending violence against women though coordinated community response (CCR) teams.  OVW launched the tour today with a visit to programs in Brooklyn, New York.  OVW and department officials will visit diverse communities across the country through May 2015.  Officials will participate in roundtable conversations with local law enforcement, victim service providers, judges, prosecutors and other members of the coordinated community response team.

This tour is an important part of the department’s ongoing effort to prevent and address violence against women.  Officials will see how best practices are playing out across the nation – especially in areas such as prosecution, law enforcement, victim services, cultural competency, language access, prevention and public awareness.

“Research shows that efforts to address violence against women are particularly effective when they are combined and integrated into a coordinated community response,” said Principal Deputy Director Bea Hanson of the Office on Violence Against Women.  “We know that when police departments, courts, and victim service providers work together to create multi-disciplinary response teams, the quality of victim services and justice system responses are improved, which can influence and change the way communities understand and talk about violence against women.”

Currently, OVW administers 24 grant programs, authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent legislation, designed to develop the nation’s capacity to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable. Since 1995, OVW has awarded more than $5.7 billion to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking in communities across the country.

The planned national tour sites are: Brooklyn, NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Alameda County, CA; Contra Costa County, CA; Vermont; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA; Duluth, MN; Idaho; Maryland; Multnomah County, OR; San Francisco, CA.  Additional sites and tour participants will be announced at a future date.